The Uninvited Guest
by windscryer
Summary: Press parties are Tony's least favorite kind of parties—all he wants is one little crisis to shut it down. But when Pepper breaks her one rule, he'll regret ever thinking that. [Post-Avengers] [Pepperony]


Disclaimer: Not mine. Sad, but true.

* * *

It was some press thing. These days it usually was.

Living with Captain "Actual Fun is Unpatriotic" America kind of reduced Tony's party opportunities.

No, that was unfair. He'd stopped having parties like that shortly after he'd gotten serious with Pepper and, truth be told, he didn't really mind so much.

He'd hosted most of those parties because calling and ordering in a companion for the evening like a pizza was apparently illegal. Unless you did it in quantity. _That_ was legal.

Yeah, look, Tony wasn't a lawyer for a reason, okay?

Science was nice and orderly and followed the same pattern. Unless you changed a variable, but that was mostly stuff you could anticipate and occasionally you couldn't but still awesome and how had he gotten onto this subject again?

Right. Parties.

Lame ones.

He looked around for the reason he'd stopped having awesome parties and didn't see her, which was confusing because Pepper had exactly ONE rule for parties: Don't let Tony out of your sight.

Though Steve was here and he did keep glancing at Tony like he expected... fireworks or profanity or strippers or something to come shooting forth from his very being.

That would be cool, but Tony didn't do magic. That was Loki's schtick.

God, Loki would really liven things up right now. Not that Tony was, like, wishing for him to ruin the party but, well... Okay maybe he was. Just a teeny tiny invasion. Was that too much to ask?

Tony drank his scotch and watched the unbelievably boring people mingle and kiss each others' asses—not literally. Again, that would be more in keeping with his sordid past.

Okay that one time and even Tony wasn't sure how things had ended up going that direction.

Actually, that might be the origin of Pepper's One Rule.

Tony shook it off and smiled charmingly at the reporter angling for him all the while wishing he was anywhere else but there right then.

He couldn't even stand back and mock the crowd with Clint because the bastard and his little woman were off on a distant continent doing things no one would ever admit to.

And, yes, he only dared think of Natasha that way because of her proximity—or lack thereof. He was snarky, not suicidal.

The reporter finally reached his side and immediately began buttering him up like Paula Deen preparing a Thanksgiving turkey and Tony was wondering just how much Pepper would be mad at him for talking her into the ground with _Science!_

(Apparently Tony was not being condescending when he treated reporters like they were idiots and talked down to him, which took all the fun out of it, but Pepper rewarded him for shit like that so he kept doing it.)

(Mostly.)

She was gearing up to ask him some incredibly pointless thing about his favorite food or whatever—seriously, who thought that was an original question?—when he saw something that piqued his interest.

A man Tony did not recognize was looking around furtively while standing next to a door leading out of the room where the party was and not the hallway leading to the bathrooms.

"Sneaky sneaky," Tony said.

"I'm sorry?" the reporter asked.

"Nothing," Tony said. He watched the man slip unobtrusively out of the room and arched an eyebrow. He figured it was less obvious than a fist pump into the air.

"Would you excuse me?" he said by rote and started away.

"Mister Stark!" she called, trying to stop him. Chyeah. As if.

"Blueberries!" he shouted back as a response. Either it answered her question or it didn't. If not, she'd have a field day trying to interpret what he'd meant which was fine with him so long as it kept her from following.

"JARVIS," he said as he edged past a clump of people who gave him a look, then a second more interested one when they realized who he was. He sped up and ducked into a thicker press of bodies to escape. "Who is that and where is he going?"

"His name is listed on the invitation as Jackson Durant, but I'm afraid he does not match the DMV photo of Mr. Durant."

"What?" Tony said, perhaps a little too loud because he got some attention. He smiled and waved and kept walking faster.

"What the hell does that mean? Also, stop him from going anywhere—"

"Sir, he's just entered the room where Miss Potts went to rest for a moment and has since fallen asleep."

Tony reached the door then and opened it quickly ducking through and speeding up to a jog. "What room, JARVIS?"

"The library, sir. Shall I inform Captain Rogers of the situation?"

"Do that, but tell him to find Fury and ask why the hell there is a spy at our S.H.I.E.L.D.-ordered press party." He turned the corner and said, "And then lock down the building so any other uninvited guests can't get out either."

"Understood, sir."

Tony almost skidded to a stop at the doorway to the library, showing the kind of restraint Pepper and Steve would both be proud of as he surveyed the situation before leaping into action.

Pepper was stretched out on the divan, a book with spread pages lying below her dangling fingers, eyes closed in sleep. She'd been run particularly ragged this week between preparing for this party and the battle with the Doombots on Tuesday and some exciting new things happening at the company.

She'd looked tired, he'd thought, which was alarming because Pepper never _looked_ anything but completely prepared and competent and poised, but she'd assured him she was fine.

Obviously not, though, if she'd come to hide during a party and read a book.

Standing over her, downright smarmy grin on his face, one hand skimming over Pepper's thigh and dragging her skirt up to bare the lacy tops of her hose, was the spy pretending to be Jackson Durant, whoever the hell that was.

Tony only got a glimpse of this blatant violation of Pepper before the red washed over his vision.

"Get your fucking hands off of her," he hissed, and only because he really didn't want to wake Pepper right now if he didn't have to.

The fingers paused on the highest point of Pepper's thigh and the gaze that had been touching her in its own filthy way rose to meet his.

"And if I don't?"

"That would be a really stupid idea. I mean, even more stupid than breaking into a party where half the attendees are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and three of them are bona-fucking-fide superheroes, which is, in and of itself, a really fucking stupid idea."

He chuckled.

He fucking chuckled and Tony could suddenly sympathize with the Hulk because, you know, he wouldn't mind turning into a giant rage monster and pulverizing this fucking oxygen thief.

The fingers moved again, flipping Pepper's skirt up so that the dip of her waist could be seen and between that and the digits walking across her skin a band of black lace that was her underwear.

"Last chance, asshole," Tony warned. "Walk away now and you might survive the ass kicking I'm going to give you. Don't and they're going to have to take up the floor boards just to sponge what's left of you up."

A grin was flashed, white teeth glinting in the light from the hallway and showing no signs whatsoever that the smart option was going to be taken. Tony could practically see what came next and reacted accordingly.

He leapt forward to try and stop it, but the hand that he hadn't been watching moved faster than he expected and grabbed a fistful of Pepper's hair and yanked up and back.

Her eyes flew wide as she gasped in sudden pain and then flailed to try and catch herself from falling off the bench seat.

She didn't hit the ground, caught by her attacker and hauled up against his body as he backed away. Tony had been ready to jump over the divan, but a fist he couldn't quite dodge caught him on the jaw and sent him down to the ground in Pepper's place.

He scrambled back up and froze, wishing desperately that he was wearing the armor right about now and had the option of a surprise repulsor blast.

Pepper was staring at him with wide, confused eyes, trying to figure out how she'd gone from reading a book and falling asleep to being held hostage by some unknown man.

"Tony?" she said before her hair was pulled back again. She hissed and obligingly tilted her head, baring her neck further and emphasizing the frantic bob of her throat.

Tony thought right then that he could kill a man and feel actual, honest-to-God glee while he did it.

"Let her go," he said instead.

"Or what?" his opponent asked with a laugh as he began edging his way toward the door, Pepper awkwardly staggering with him.

"That's a question you don't want to ask," Tony said, trying to think of a solution, any solution to this standoff. Except it wasn't a standoff because he was getting away and he was taking Pepper with him and, GODDAMMIT, he needed some kind of something to carry with him that wasn't a giant red briefcase.

"Look just..." he said, desperation loosing his tongue—not that he needed that much of an excuse really. "Just let her go and I'll tell JARVIS to let you go."

Brow furrowed and the head next to Pepper's tilted.

"I had him lock the place down. You're not getting out of here unless I tell him to let you go."

"You're going to do that anyway. Because if you don't..."

The hand not holding onto Pepper's hair came up and wrapped around her throat, thumb and forefinger framing her jaw.

She was panting in terror and Tony really couldn't blame her because all it would take was one quick twist of a wrist and she'd be dead and, oh God, there was nothing he could do to stop it and—

Pounding footsteps in the hallway preceded Captain America shouting, "Hey!"

The spy twisted to face the new threat, Pepper's skirt flaring outward with the motion, and Tony lunged forward while he could.

He got there just after the clang of a silver serving tray bouncing off of a thick skull and his arms closed on empty air instead of Pepper's waist.

He looked down and then dropped to his knees, helping her as she struggled upward and into his arms.

He finally got a hold of her and fell backward onto the library floor as she toppled him over with her exuberance.

They worked in concert for a few brief seconds, long enough to scoot back away from the fallen spy, watching as Steve took a knee to double-check that the threat had been neutralized. He turned his grim expression on them and said, "Are you alright, ma'am?"

She nodded, but seemed a little out of it as she stared at the unconscious form of her attacker.

More footsteps heralded the arrival of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, two of whom followed Cap's orders to search and secure the man.

The third arrived a moment later in the form of Nick Fury who watched his agents drag away their prize, then surveyed the rest of the scene, Cap in his tuxedo standing very straight and tall and Tony and Pepper on the floor still.

"Everyone all right?"

Cap glanced at them too, then said, "They are now, yes, sir."

Fury gave them another scrutinizing look, then nodded. "I'll leave you to collect yourselves then and go see about our spy."

He left and Cap gave them one last look with a reassuring smile for Pepper and a sober nod for Tony, then followed. "Director Fury, if I may?" could be heard drifting back. "I'd like to be there for the interrogation."

"Of course, Captain."

The rest of the conversation was too indistinct to hear, but Tony didn't really care anyway as he looked back at Pepper.

She met his gaze and held it for about half a second before the tears welled up and she closed the distance between them to bury her head against his shoulder and start crying.

He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently as he pressed kisses into her hair and rubbed her back. "Shh," he said. "It's okay. You're okay. I'm here and you're safe now."

She said some barely coherent things about having no idea what just happened and who was that and how did he get there and, oh god, she thought she was going to _die_.

He tightened his grip and waited out the tide of tears, moving only enough to sit up straighter so he didn't fall over. She responded by dragging her legs up into his lap and clutching at his back more fiercely.

He all but curled around her, his heart pounding in his chest at the terrifying thoughts of what might have been—what damn near almost was—and tried to breathe through his own semi-panic attack.

Finally she pulled back and wiped at her face, smearing some of her makeup as she asked again, "Who was that?"

"I don't know," he said, taking her face in his hands. He kissed her on the lips, not as sweet and gentle as he wanted to, as he thought she needed, but she wasn't the only one shaking in the aftermath. Finally he broke off, gasping, and pressed his forehead to hers. "God, Pepper, I don't even know. JARVIS said he didn't match the name he gave on the guest list. Cap and Fury will find out and he'll probably disappear into a dark hole somewhere but, God, I don't even know who he was or what he wanted." He had to swallow a sudden lump of fear that tried to choke him. "I just saw him standing over you and I saw red. I literally saw red, Pepper, and I told him to back the fuck off but he wouldn't and then—" He couldn't verbalize the rest of it. He couldn't.

She already looked terrified and he just couldn't make it worse.

Instead he pulled her back against him, her ruined hairstyle allowing him to hide in the loose strands of her hair.

They stayed that way, sitting on the floor in their formal wear and clinging to each other until Tony's ass fell asleep and Pepper stopped shaking like the Tower in a good solid wind.

Occasionally they separated long enough to kiss again, to reassure each other that they were okay, but mostly they just held on.

Bruce was actually the one that found them, worry and anger written in the lines of his face and the faintest green tint to his eyes.

He was rumpled and worn like only a three-day lab bender could make a person, having been excused from the party on the grounds that reporters annoyed him.

Tony was a lot jealous of him in that respect.

He stood in the doorway, hands sliding out of his pockets as he toed at the wood floor and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So..." he said and Pepper started in Tony's arms and nearly gave herself whiplash turning to see who it was, then relaxing when she recognized him.

Tony pressed a kiss to her cheek, then another to her neck, nosing at her jaw.

She bent her head to contact his more fully and said, after a false start and a cleared throat, "Did Steve send you?"

Bruce smiled. "No. He's still tied up with Fury, I guess. JARVIS told me what happened.

"I would have been up here sooner, but I had to wait for the party to clear out and for JARVIS to bring this part of the Tower out of lockdown again."

Tony couldn't help the laugh and the, "Thanks, buddy," that statement prompted.

"You're welcome, sir," JARVIS said and Tony could have sworn it was a mixture of pride, relief, and guilt in his tone.

Later—okay, probably sooner as a way to distract himself once Pepper was asleep again—he'd look at JARVIS' coding to see what had been added to allow that range of emotions.

For now...

"Come on," Bruce said, crossing the floor and extending a hand. "There are more than enough chairs in this place that you don't need to sit on the floor. Are either of you hurt?"

Tony looked at Pepper, his heart thumping erratically against the back of the arc reactor at the suggestion. He hadn't checked, not really, he'd just assumed—

She smiled up at Bruce. "I'm fine." Then she looked back down at Tony and blinked once at whatever expression was on his face. Her smile softened and she cupped his cheek in her hand. "I'm fine," she repeated. "Shaken up a little," she allowed, "but otherwise okay."

"He—" Tony stammered, fingers threading gently into her hair as flashes of it being yanked and pulled crossed his vision. "I mean..." His eyes locked in on her throat and he couldn't help touching it, tracing a line with one finger down her skin, then jerking back when she swallowed. She covered his hand with her own and he looked up to see such love and gratitude in her eyes.

"No, he didn't hurt me. Really. I'm okay."

Their joined hands were crushed between them as he pulled her close with the other one against the back of her skull, breathing deeply through one more wave of icy cold terror and hot, vicious anger.

Her free hand rubbed up and down on his back and eventually he was able to release her.

Bruce had stepped back to give them space, but at Tony's unspoken request came back to help them up.

Backsides were dusted and Pepper's skirt was twitched back into place. Tony swallowed a growl at the memory that brought back, one hand clenching into a fist.

He really wanted a chance to speak with their intruder and maybe five minutes of looped security feed.

He settled for an arm around Pepper's waist and no space at all between them as they walked down the hall, Bruce on her other side watching them both carefully.

There would be time for security feed loops and "discussions" later.

Now Tony just needed a drink and a shower and about a million years in bed with Pepper.

He worked his jaw, feeling the ache from the one lucky punch that landed starting to bleed through the waning adrenaline.

Maybe a couple of ibuprofen, too.


End file.
